How Hindu is the BJP-led NDA government?

Govt is doing as little as it can to establish Modi is Hindu hriday samrat going through the motions

Supporters of the government who expected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show the minorities their place (many hoped he would take steps that would have them scurrying to the Bay of Bengal) must feel disappointed. Modi has said not one word on the rebuilding of the Ram Temple (admittedly the matter is sub judice but that has never stopped governments and Prime Ministers in the past from commenting on the desirability of an outcome). The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has suggested to him that as in the Shah Bano case where Parliament bypassed the judiciary and formed its own view on what constitutes rights of divorced women, in the matter of the Ram Temple too, Parliament should be encouraged to turn the disputed area into a temple. Modi has ignored VHP’s advice.

He has not tried to set the agenda of the courts by taking forward the issue of the uniform civil code, beyond appeals to ‘meri pyari Muslim bahnon’ to start a movement against triple talaq from within the community. Although the Muslim socio-political leadership has approached the PMO to proffer views on the idea of a uniform civil code, they have not heard from PMO, suggesting this is not a priority issue for the government. There are many across the country who have formed squads to protect Hindu rights and are swaggering around feeling important, Modi’s attack on self-appointed gau rakshaks has had many Hindu organisations squirming with rage and humiliation.

The government is doing as little as it can to establish Modi is Hindu hriday samrat, just going through the motions. The same is the case with the promulgation of a national law on cow slaughter.

Reports say the union environment ministry has asked the ministry of agriculture to explore the option of devising a national law to enforce the ban on the slaughter of cows and selling of beef., a law that is already in effect in all but five Indian states and one union territory.

The maxim of ‘when in doubt, pass the package’ seems to be working here. In the course of a hearing in a Himachal Pradesh court, the court, in July 2016, asked the centre to explore, within six months, the possibility of enacting a national law to prevent cow slaughter. The Ministry of Environment is doing exactly that – by asking the agriculture ministry if it could please explore the options, because animal husbandry does not fall in the domain of the environment ministry.

Kiren Rijiju, a proud Arunachali and minister of state for home, had commented defiantly that no government can tell him what to eat. In many northeastern states, and in some parts of Kerala, beef is considered a vastly better option than a goat. This is why passing the parcel is an infinitely better option than creating problems that the centre just cannot solve.